Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule, United States, 2021

Abstract

In October 2020, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to approve the Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule for Ages 19 Years or Older, United States, 2021. Following Emergency Use Authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ACIP issued an interim recommendation at its 12 December 2020 emergency meeting for use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in persons aged 16 years or older (1). In addition, ACIP approved an amendment to include COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in the child and adolescent and adult immunization schedules. Following Emergency Use Authorization of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ACIP issued an interim recommendation at its 19 December 2020 emergency meeting for use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in persons aged 18 years or older (2). The 2021 adult immunization schedule, available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines /schedules/hcp/imz/adult.html, summarizes ACIP recommendations in 2 tables and accompanying notes (Figure). The full ACIP recommendations for each vaccine are available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs /index.html. The 2021 schedule has also been approved by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the American College of Physicians (www.acponline.org), the American Academy of Family Physicians (www.aafp.org), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (www.acog .org), the American College of Nurse-Midwives (www .midwife.org), and the American Academy of Physician Assistants (www.aapa.org). The ACIP develops recommendations on the use of each vaccine after in-depth review of vaccine-related data, such as the epidemiology and burden of the vaccinepreventable disease (VPD), vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, vaccine safety, quality of evidence, feasibility of program implementation, and economic analyses of immunization policy (3). ACIP recommendations can be complex and challenging to implement. The purpose of the immunization schedule, published annually, is to consolidate and summarize updates to ACIP recommendations on vaccination of adults and to assist providers in implementing current ACIP recommendations. The use of vaccine trade names in this article and in the schedule is for identification purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the ACIP or CDC.